Bosnian Journalists Attacked at Chetnik Commemoration

Sunday’s commemoration in Visegrad. Photo: Faktor.ba

Adisa Ibrahimovic from the regional N1 TV station told BIRN that she was attacked on Sunday while covering the Chetnik commemoration in Drazevina, a village near the town of Visegrad, by a man who hit her cameraman with his camera and hit her with her microphone.

“When we arrived in Drazevina, we were told by a man that we could not get an interview on the record. As we were leaving, I asked the cameraman to just take a recording of the surroundings. As he was doing that, a man ran at us, started tugging at our camera and hitting my cameraman Alen with it over his head,” said Ibrahimovic.

She said that when she tried to stop the assailant, he took the microphone out of her hands and beat her over the head with it.

“I was frightened and just begged him to let us go. Another man came and started swearing, as did a woman nearby. Then I saw a big group of young men in black – from Serbia – running at us. I was terrified but they helped us. They pushed the man, gave us our things, apologised and told us to leave,” she said.

She reported the attack to the Visegrad police, who found the man and arrested him.

Another TV crew, from Federalna TV, was also insulted at the commemoration on Sunday.

The Ravna Gora Chetnik movement issued a statement apologising for the incidents.

“During the incident, most of the participants were 600 metres away at the ceremony. During the registration for this event, we said that each participant has to answer for his own actions, but we apologise to the journalists of Federalna TV and N1,” said the statement.

Dragoljub Mihailovic, who was also known as General Draza, was sentenced to death in 1946 by a Yugoslav court for high treason and collaboration with Nazi Germany.

He was rehabilitated last year by a Belgrade court which ruled that his trial was “political and ideological” and made serious legal errors.

During WWII, his forces, known as Chetniks, were accused of committing war crimes and other atrocities.

Jasmin Meskovic, the president of an association representing Bosniak former prison camp detainees, said that the public expression of support for the Chetnik movement was worrying for people who returned to the Serb-dominated area after fleeing during the war.

“Today we saw attacks on journalists and tomorrow we could see attacks on returnees. Unfortunately, while we have politicians who support such ideologies, we will have an uncertain life for returnees,” said Meskovic.